Fire-box construction for burning hydrocarbon oils



' (No Model.)

J. S. ZERBE.

FIRE BOX UONSTRUGTION FOR BURNING HYDROGARBON OILS.

No. 542.673. Patented July 16, 1895;

Steam Oil WITNESSES.

IN VE N 701?:

NTTED STATES PATENT *OFFICE.

JAMES s. ZERBE, on BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

FIRE-BOX CONSTRUCTION FOR BURNING HYDROCARBON OILS.

EiPECIFIOATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 542,673, dated July16, 1895.

Application filed November 5, 1 894- Serial No. 527,917. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES S. ZERBE, a cilizen of the United States, anda resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-BoxConstruction for Burning Hydrocarbon Oils, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of this invention is to improve the methods of burninghydrocarbon oils, and it consists in the structure and arrangement ofthe fire-box of a boiler, so that when the jet or spray of steam and.oil'is injected into the combustion-cha1nber the requisite quantity ofair will intermingle with the carbonic gases generated at the point ofignition and thus produce perfect combustion. This is accomplishedwithout requiring any deflecting surfaces or retarding walls within thefire-box, enabling me to use the entire area of the gratesurface, all ofwhich will now be set forth in detail.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side view, partly insection, of a boiler equipped with my improved system of burninghydrocarbon oils; Fig. 2, a front view of the boiler; Fig. 3, ahorizontal section of the fire-box through line no of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, aperspective view of one of the fire-brick used on the grate; and Fig. 5,a side view of the bed of fire-brick, showing the manner of disposingthem on the grate-bar.

In arranging a fire-box I prefer to elevate the rear ends of thegrate-bars A, as shown in Fig. 1, thereby contracting the fire-boxspacevertically and assuring a more direct application of the flame againstthe boiler. This disposition of the grate-bars is in direct oppositionto the recognized practice when coal is used; but it must be rememberedthat a bed of incandescent coal on grate bars has a greater tendency toburn them than would be the case with gaseous fuel, unless the lattershould be directed immediately against or beneath them. Furthermore,Iprovide against any liability of burning out the bars by the peculiarstructure and arrangement of the superposed fire-brick base.

Fig. et shows in detail one of the bricks B. This is made of any desiredsize, preferably two inches or more thick and fully double that Width.Within one face is placed a number of shallow grooves C, which extendapproximately two-thirds the distance across the side. The bricks thusconstructed are laid on the grate-bars A, parallel with the front wallof the firebox and disposed at an angle of about forty-five degrees,with grooved face toward the front wall. The grooves thus furnishvent-apertures over the entire surface, so that the requisite quantityof air isv provided to the flame above the bed.

I find that too much air is as ineffective as too little air and thatthe best results are obtained by supplying two parts of 'air to one partof carbonic gas, and this can be effectively regulated by means of theash-pit door. This quantity of air applies particularly where a spray ofoil is used above the grate-bars. When, however, a vapor or gas is used,a much greater quantity of air must be furnished to provide perfectcombustion.

The injector or pulverizer Dmay be made thrown against this bed andheats up the firebrick, the air passing up through the grooves O anduniting with the carbonic gases generated by the contact of oil spraywith the heated brick and a perfect oxyhydrogen flame is the result. Inall methods of using hydrocarbon oils too little attention has been paidto the manner of supplying the air to the burning mass, and I find bypractice that it is difficult to obtain perfect combustion in a furnacewhere sprays are used, even when air is supplied to thecombustion-chamber under IOO , fed by air-channels.

I avoid all these expedients by making a bed which has a serrated facefor breaking up and retarding the comminuted particles of oil andsubjecting every portion of the vaporizing surface to a jet of air.

Thus far I have referred only to a jet or spray of oil. I find that thisfire-brick bed is particularly well adapted to the use of either aproducer gas flame, natural gas, or where used in connection with thesystem of producing a a vapor, as set forth in one of my pendingapplications, Serial No. 527,916. I do not, therefore, limit myself tothe use of this firebrick bed in connection with only the injector orpulverizer.

I am aware that it is not new to provide inclined or ascending beds offire-brick within a fire-box against which the oil sprays are injected.These beds are made in various forms, either of superposed layers offire-brick or of broken up particles of fire-brick, or composed of coalor coke, which is heated up to incan descence; but such structures andarrangements of inclined beds do not produce the results obtainable bymy invention, as I have repeatedly demonstrated byexperiments, for thefollowing reasons: As stated hereinbefore the important object is toprovide a free and portion of the fuel is lost.

positive supply of oxygen at the point of combustion. If an ascendingcolumn of fire-brick is built upon the grate-bars the oil jet from thepulverizer is injected against the mass, so, that the spray enters theinterstices between the brick and is gradually forced through the entirecolumn and to a point beyond which the heated or incandescent state ofthe firebrick has no vaporizing effect on it. Hence the action of theair, which cannot be freely ad r'nitted through the mass of brickwork,does not readily unite with the evolved carbonic gas at the surface ofthe ascending brick, where there is the greatest heat, and a large Thisis shown by the fact that with all brick-beds of this character theparaftine from the oil is disseminated throughout the base of the brickcolumn and finally results in entirely choking up all the interstices,thus rendering it wholly inoperative. This is also largely true of theascending coal and coke beds; but where these are used they are consumedin course of time and must then be replaced by a new bed, whichnecessarily makes the use of coal or-coke undesirable, because expensiveand difficult to keep in order. Furthermore, I call attention to thefact that if the grate-bars are elevated at their rear ends and a bed ofcoal is placed thereon and brought to a state of incandescence the barswill readily burn out, so that the practice with all steam users is todepress the rear end to obviate burning out. This is not the case wherethe form and arrangement of fire-brick as herein shown is placed ongrate-bars having their rear ends elevated, even though the fire-brickon the extreme rear ends of the bars may be elevated above thebridge-wall, and the reason for this is that the air from the ash-pit isfreely admit-ted through the grooves O, and this circulation of air isuniform and over the entire grate surface. With the use of coal or cokemore or less of the incandescent particles find their way between thebars of the grate. Hence they are readily burned out. This fire-brickstructure, although it may be heated up to a much higher temperaturethan a coal or coke mass, always permits a free circulation of airaround and through the grate-bars, which absolutely prevents injury tothem.

I also call particular attention to the angle of the fire-brick whichare so disposed that the spray from the injector cannot possibly bethrown down the grooves or ducts O. This is an important feature in thearrangement of any bed of fire-brick against which a jet of sprayed oilimpinges. Furthermore, the injector by its action sets up a rapidmovement toward the rear end of the fire-box, and this has the efiect ofdrawing up the air through the ducts C, so that the position of thefirebrick being rearwardly inclined and having their ducts so disposed,an abundance of air is assured at the point of combustion where it isessential to make a perfectadmixture.

I am not aware that any prior invention has the entire area of the grateprovided with a regular mass of fire-brick having uniform ductsthroughout, nor that any fire-box has heretofore been constructed withgrate-bars therein elevated at their rear ends and provided with asingle layer of fire-brick thereon disposed in a regular manner, asherein shown.

What I claim as new is- 1. A fire box having on the grate bars a bedformed of fire brick nested togetherand inclined at an angle to thegrate bars and provided with grooves to form air ducts between the ashpit and the combustion chamber, substantially as set forth.

2. A fire box having the rear ends of the grate bars elevated andprovided with a single bed or tier of tire brick nested together at anangle to the grate bars, each brick having grooves to form air ductsbetween the ash pit and combustion chamber, substantially as set forth.

3. A fire box having the rear ends of the grate bars elevated, andprovided with a sin gle tier of fire brick over the entire surface,inclined at an angle to the grate bars, each fire brick having grooveson its front face, forming air ducts, substantially as set forth.

at. A fire box having the rear ends of the grate bars elevated, and theentire grate area covered by a. serrated fire brick bed composed of asingle tier or layer, each brick being disposed at an angleapproximating forty-five degrees to the grate bars and inclinedrearwardly said bed having air ducts in its entire surface at regularintervals, substantially as set forth.

5. A fire box having on the grate bars a bed formed of fire brick nestedtogether at an angle to the grate bars and provided with grooves to formair ducts between the ash pit and combustion chamber, in combinationwith an injector or pulverizer through the front all of the fire box,substantially as set forth.

6. A fire box having the rear ends of the grate bars elevated andprovided'with a single bed or layer of fire brick nested together at anangle to the grate bars and having grooves to form air ducts between theash pit and combustion chamber, in combination with an injector orpulverizer to inject a spray against the grooved face of said brick,substantially as set forth; e

7. A fire box having the rear ends of the substantially as set forth.

Signed at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, this31st day of October, A. D. 1894..

JAMES S. 'ZERBE.

Witnesses:

HUGH MOORE, A. J. ZERBE.

